Diabetic retinopathy

[MCM5278]

I am a bit confused. I have retinopathy and have had to have a few laser sessions. I asked my opthamologist about how to improve my blood flow to the eyes and he said that I would not want to improve blood flow and that would be bad since I have leaky blood vessels. I am confused, wouldn't improved blood flow to the eyes improve things. Isn't it lack of circulation that is part of the problem. Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[noblehead]

Not too sure about how you would improve the blood flow even if it did help, but by far the best thing you can do is control your bg levels, bp and cholesterol levels and eat a diet rich in fruit & vegetables. Just make sure if your diabetes control hasn't been good of late not to tighten up your control too quick as this can make retinopathy much worse, always consult with your Ophthalmologist and diabetes team first.

Have a good read around the following which is a must for anyone who has diabetic retinopathy:

http://www.diabeticretinopathy.org.uk/Information_for_patients.html

 

[MCM5278]

Thanks for the info Noblehead. I don't know if you have heard of this or know much about it, but there is a therapy called micro current therapy that is supposed to have benefits to the eye and one of them is improving circulation and blood flow. So do you know If improved blood flow to the eye would be bad for me.

 

[Spiker]

If you improve blood flow to parts of the eye that have damaged blood vessels, blood may leak into the eye and the bleeding can cause damage to your vision.

 

[MCM5278]

Thanks Spiker. That makes sense. That raises another question for me if you don't mind. Does that mean exercise and or supplements that improve circulation would be bad also?

 

[phoenix]

There are restrictions on the types of exercise you should do with active proliferative retinopathy
http://www.joslin.org/info/exercising-with-diabetes-complications.html

 

[CarbsRok]

I had a chat with an ophthalmic surgeon last week after my post op check for cataracts. I did ask him the question about eye supplements and he said fish oil would be the only thing he would advise people to take to keep eyes in good order and also keeping blood sugar and BP well under control. As I don't have retinopathy this advice wasn't aimed at retinopathy treatment/help.

 

[noblehead]

Thanks for the info Noblehead. I don't know if you have heard of this or know much about it, but there is a therapy called micro current therapy that is supposed to have benefits to the eye and one of them is improving circulation and blood flow. So do you know If improved blood flow to the eye would be bad for me.

I would go with what your Ophthalmologist has told you, they are the experts.

However, improving your diabetes control will make your blood less sticky as will reducing your cholesterol levels (LDL) if they are raised, which in turn will lead to increased blood flow, but as I said earlier any changes should be done under the supervision of your HCP's.

When my retinopathy was active I was told to keep my bp down to below the recommended level, both my Ophthalmologist and gp thought I should keep it to around 130/70 to take the pressure off my eyes, so although my bp at the time was normal I was given a drug called Ramipril to take to bring my bp down, if your bp is high or borderline you might want to discuss the same with your gp.

Sorry I've not heard of the treatment you mentioned, it was never mentioned to me put it that way. When I asked my Ophthalmologist about ways in which to improve my eye health and prevent further episodes of retinopathy he just said what I've said above, as well as eating a healthy diet rich in fruit & veg (particularly darker colour fruit & veg).

I started eating blueberries every morning with my breakfast, I do believe they have helped my eye health although it is just anecdotal of course and I may be mistaken, but blueberries do have a high antioxidant level over other fruits and there may just be something in it, but that's just my belief. Fish oils (as CarbsRok says) is also said to be good and I started taking it in liquid form around 4-5 years ago, again I can't be sure but I'll continue taking it just the same.

Exercise also increases blood flow but do be careful, do read the article that Phoenix has posted.

 

[MCM5278]

Thanks so much to all of you for your help and info. I truly appreciate all of you taking the time to answer my questions and help me out. I'm new to this site but I'm instantly hooked. It's nice to have somewhere you can come and ask a question and have so many people share info and help out. This retinopathy thing has me terrified and I have so much anxiety over it that im sure ill have many more questions. Thanks again to all.

 

[noblehead]

Feel free to come back and ask as many questions as you want, the forum is a good place to ask or just get things off your mind, good luck and hope your eyes settle down soon.